1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to an automatic wire alignment apparatus, and more particularly, to an automatic wire alignment apparatus that individually houses wires in grooves formed in an alignment plate.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in a heat exchange apparatus or similar apparatus, a multiplicity of wires used to maintain the spaces between coolant pipes formed in a zigzag shape and to increase the heat release surface area are fixed to the coolant pipes using a method such as soldering or welding.
Incidentally, in the heat exchange apparatus described above, the a multiplicity of wires must be aligned parallel to each other when they are placed on the coolant pipes.
As a result, in order to promote ease of assembly, the necessary number of a multiplicity of wires described above are aligned and housed beforehand in grooves formed in an aligning plate, and the a multiplicity of wires aligned in the alignment plate grooves are held in that state by an electromagnet or like means and placed on the coolant pipes formed in a zigzag shape.
However, because the above process of aligning and housing the a multiplicity of wires in the alignment plate grooves is performed manually, it requires considerable time and labor.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic wire alignment apparatus that can rapidly place wires into grooves formed in an alignment plate.
The automatic wire alignment apparatus pertaining to the present invention includes an elongated alignment plate in which is formed parallel grooves each of which houses a wire, a wire supply box that houses a multiplicity of wires, vibration generating means that causes the wire supply box to vibrate, thereby causing the wires located in the wire supply box to descend toward the alignment plate, and conveyance means that moves one or both of the alignment plate and the wire supply box, wherein the wire supply box is moved by the conveyance means relative to the alignment plate in a direction perpendicular to the grooves in the alignment plate, and the wires that are caused to descend from the wire supply box are housed individually in each groove in the alignment plate.
According to the automatic wire alignment apparatus of this invention, the wires contained in the wire supply box are caused to descend via vibration, and the wires that have descended are sequentially housed in grooves formed in an alignment plate due to the movement of the wire supply box relative to the alignment plate.
In the automatic wire alignment apparatus pertaining to the present invention, the side plates of the above wire supply box, which are located across the width of the alignment plate, are placed on the wire supply box in a vertically movable fashion, and each side plate is urged by a spring such that the bottom edge thereof is in continuous contact with the alignment plate.
According to the automatic wire alignment apparatus of this invention, because each side plate of the wire supply box is urged by a spring such that the bottom edge thereof is in continuous contact with the alignment plate, the wires are reliably forced downward by the side plates into the grooves in the alignment plate.
Furthermore, in the automatic wire alignment apparatus pertaining to the present invention, the inner edge surface of each side plate is formed as a slanted surface.
According to this invention, the wires are reliably guided and forced downward into the grooves in the alignment plate by the slanted surface formed on the inner edge surface of each side plate.